Factory manager accused of assaulting Vietnamese worker faces year in prison

Prosecutors sought a one-year prison sentence on Tuesday for a factory manager accused of repeatedly punching and headbutting a Vietnamese worker at a company dormitory in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi.

The manager was detained and indicted on charges of punching the worker, a Vietnamese national, in the face and headbutting the worker dozens of times at a dormitory belonging to a cosmetics container manufacturer in Hwaseong in November last year.

The manager admitted to the assault but asked the court for leniency by arguing that the violence and resulting injuries were relatively minor.

“[The defendant] admits to all the charges and deeply regrets his actions that caused injury to the victim,” the manager’s attorney said in closing arguments.

“Most of the roughly 20 instances described as headbutts in the indictment amounted to pushing the victim with their head,” the attorney said. “The injuries were also minor and required two weeks of treatment.”

“I’m sorry,” the manager said in the final statement.

The sentencing hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Sept. 29.

BY JEONG JAE-HONG [lee.jiwon10@joongang.co.kr]